From yesterday's first reading: "The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need."
From yesterday's gospel: "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. . . Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hand and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.' Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.' Thomas answered and said to him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.'"
From the disciples who first saw the risen Jesus, to Thomas who did not believe at first, to even Church History students, who read the description from the first reading (and a similar one two chapters later) and say, "Come on! Nobody lives like that!", it all seems to be too good to be true. Even today, Jesus' resurrection from the dead, his eternal life to be shared with us, and the joy of the resurrection and new life that spread to his disciples' way of life can seem too good to be true. "Deeper than our incapacity to understand how this can happen is our inability even to comprehend a goodness that simply gives itself away. It does not correspond to the way our world works. Yet that is precisely what the church proclaims" (Terrance Klein, "What is the real obstacle to faith?", America Magazine, April 4, 2018). Pope Francis reminds of this in his apostolic exhortation released this morning: "[God's] friendship infinitely transcends us; we cannot buy it with our works, it can only be a gift born of his loving initiative" (Gaudete et Exsultate, 54).
What does this mean for us as Lasallian educators? As Brother Miguel Campos, FSC wrote: "the Brothers and their students give themselves to one another, learning to leave a former way of life in order to achieve a new life through conversion and mutual education. It is a life of love and forgiveness, and in living this life, they discover and share the experience of the ever-present and generous love of God, and they live as children of God" (Introduction to Meditations for the Time of Retreat). So today, as we feel the infinite love of God, given to us not because we are "worthy", but because God cannot help but love, recall that we are receiving it through the young people who are entrusted to our care. Because they too are called to new life and to share that same love, remember that they must receive it from us. It is not too good to be true, and we only need to recall the times of great joy that we have had with students, joy like that of the complete sharing of the first Christian community, to know, just as Thomas and the first disciples came to know, that God's inexhaustible love is always given, received, and shared.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!